Beta blockers

Chris144mph
Chris144mph Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've just been diagnosed with anxiety disorder after 3 attacks in the past week & taken to hospital where the Dr has put me on propranolol for the anxiety and also naproxen for muscle pin in chest.
Although they're treatment for anxiety I am finding that they are making me anxious too. I am left scared wondering when & where another attack will happen and am now too frightened to go out running!
Has anybody any experience with this? It seems I'm falling apart lately... Does it get better?

Replies

  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
    Have you been to see a therapist as well? That should be high on your list of priorities
  • Chris144mph
    Chris144mph Posts: 66 Member
    Hannahwalksfar wrote: »
    Have you been to see a therapist as well? That should be high on your list of priorities

    Yes I was referred to therapist just got to book appointments.
    I m just concerned about keeping up running while taking these as they affect heart rate.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    edited August 2019
    Chris144mph wrote: »
    Hannahwalksfar wrote: »
    Have you been to see a therapist as well? That should be high on your list of priorities

    Yes I was referred to therapist just got to book appointments.
    I m just concerned about keeping up running while taking these as they affect heart rate.

    Sorry you are going through a lot lately. Anxiety attacks can be terrifying.

    What are you afraid of specifically? Beta blockers decrease heart rate slightly but that is nothing to worry about. There is nothing wrong with exercising if you are on beta blockers for anxiety. As long as your doctors have not told you to not exercise due to concerns you have a heart issue, there is nothing to worry about.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I was prescribed the beta blocker metoprolol for heart palpitations. I also have a little social anxiety, which manifests in crowded, noisy restaurants, so tried taking it for that, and it wasn't effective.

    I've had panic attacks in the past. My experience is that benzodiazepines are far more effective for anxiety, but they are easily abused, so doctors are less likely to prescribe them. Just having a prescription and having them available was soothing enough for me to not have to take them regularly.

    What's also helped my anxiety is:
    1. Regular exercise, with increased exercise in times of increased stress.
    2. Getting out of stressful living situations, like living with alcoholics.

    Give the propranolol a shot and if it doesn't work for you, ask your doctor for an actual anti-anxiety medication, not something that is used "off label" for this.

    https://www.medicinenet.com/beta_blockers_vs_xanax/article.htm#beta_blockers_vs_xanax
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited August 2019
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I was prescribed the beta blocker metoprolol for heart palpitations. I also have a little social anxiety, which manifests in crowded, noisy restaurants, so tried taking it for that, and it wasn't effective.

    I've had panic attacks in the past. My experience is that benzodiazepines are far more effective for anxiety, but they are easily abused, so doctors are less likely to prescribe them. Just having a prescription and having them available was soothing enough for me to not have to take them regularly.

    What's also helped my anxiety is:
    1. Regular exercise, with increased exercise in times of increased stress.
    2. Getting out of stressful living situations, like living with alcoholics.

    Give the propranolol a shot and if it doesn't work for you, ask your doctor for an actual anti-anxiety medication, not something that is used "off label" for this.

    https://www.medicinenet.com/beta_blockers_vs_xanax/article.htm#beta_blockers_vs_xanax

    ^ This. A 1/4 or 1/2 mg of Xanax will knock the anxiety right out of you in less than 10 minutes and give you hours of peaceful calm -- there is a reason it is prescribed specifically for panic attacks. Definitely should ask the dr about it. You can even take 1/8 mg as a prophylactic before going out running for a while, until you regain your confidence. At the direction of a dr, of course. 1/8 mg will just relax you a little and pretty much sit under the level of conscious awareness while preventing a bubbling up of anxiety into a full blown panic attack.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Chris144mph wrote: »
    I've just been diagnosed with anxiety disorder after 3 attacks in the past week & taken to hospital where the Dr has put me on propranolol for the anxiety and also naproxen for muscle pin in chest.
    Although they're treatment for anxiety I am finding that they are making me anxious too. I am left scared wondering when & where another attack will happen and am now too frightened to go out running!
    Has anybody any experience with this? It seems I'm falling apart lately... Does it get better?

    I suffer from panic attacks, more so in the past, now they are very rare. When are you more likely to have an attack? If it is when you are alone, can you try exercise in group settings? Like a class at the gym? If you feel more calm when alone, then running or walking should be safe. It was among the reasons, along with the convenience of running at weird hours, why for several years I did a good part of my running on a treadmill at home: I felt more calm.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    Chris144mph wrote: »
    I've just been diagnosed with anxiety disorder after 3 attacks in the past week & taken to hospital

    It sounds like a recent development, so see your general doctor to rule out medical causes of anxiety, like hyperthyroidism, medication side-effects, adrenal tumors, etc.
  • Chris144mph
    Chris144mph Posts: 66 Member
    Thanks for the hugs all.
    I have been to dr he's the one who put me on propranolol as I had an episode while talking to him. He said they are for the immediate calming effect & only for a month then we can talk things over & find another non medicine way.
    The tests I had at the hospital proved my heart was OK in fact he said all results show that my BP & heart rate were absolutely perfect but because I was panicking I couldn't get my breathing regular. The propranolol helps.
    There's still a tightness across my chest though but as xrays are all clear surely it is muscular (which makes sense as I have frozen shoulder that causes pain) so it's naproxen to ease that.
    I'm also on levothyroxine since February for mild hypothyroidism & have just finished 6 loading doses of b12 for severe deficiency which caused me to come up in a rash. Dr reckons this worry has added to anxiety over my family life situation and its all been too much.
    Making appointments for the therapist today so fingers crossed
    Xx

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